Sweet potato
Sweet potatoes are a high-demand crop with expanding markets in Europe, North America, and Asia. Latin America and East Africa are key producers, with Ethiopia, Uganda, Peru, and Honduras among the leading suppliers.
However, exporting sweet potatoes comes with significant risks. Growers and exporters face unstable prices, rising production costs, climate-driven supply shortages, and logistical barriers. For small and medium-sized producers, these challenges translate into financial uncertainty and lower margins.
Avocado trade challenges
Even though global demand is rising, the sweet potato market remains unstable, making it difficult for exporters to predict revenues.
Unstable Pricing → Sweet potato prices fluctuate due to shifts in consumer demand, climate-related production swings, and supply chain disruptions, making income unpredictable.
Rising Production Costs → The cost of fertilizers, labour, and transportation has surged, reducing growers' profit margins.
Climate-Driven Crop Losses → Sweet potatoes are vulnerable to droughts, irregular rainfall, and extreme heat, which can lead to low yields and financial losses.
Export Barriers & Quality Standards → Many international markets have strict quality and phytosanitary requirements, making it difficult for small and medium-sized exporters to compete.
Sweet potato growers and exporters face serious financial instability without a system to stabilize pricing and ensure market access.
2022
2022
In 2022, the Latin American sweet potato market experienced a downturn after two consecutive years of growth.
The market's value decreased by 1.1% to $2 billion, reflecting a broader trend of declining consumption in the region. This decline was attributed to various factors, including adverse weather conditions and reduced planting areas. The decrease in production led to supply shortages, causing price fluctuations in local markets and making it challenging for exporters to meet international demand.
Decline in Sweet Potato Production
2023
2023
In 2023, the African sweet potato market faced significant challenges. Its value decreased by 2.3% to $48.7 billion, ending a four-year rising trend.
This decline was influenced by high input costs, lack of labour, and increased competition from cheaper imports. These challenges led to reduced planting areas and lower sales volumes, contributing to market instability and financial strain for growers and exporters.
Market Volatility and Price Fluctuations
2024
2024
By 2024, sweet potato producers in Latin America and East Africa grappled with increased production costs. Rising expenses for fertilizers, labour, and transportation strained the financial viability of farming operations.
Despite a growing global demand for sweet potatoes, these heightened costs eroded profit margins for growers and exporters. The economic pressures forced some small-scale farmers to reduce their cultivation areas or abandon sweet potato farming altogether, potentially leading to decreased production and further market instability.
Oversupply Led to Price Drops for Small-sized Avocados
When Prices Drop, Growers and Exporters Pay the Price
Market volatility isn’t just an economic concept—it has real, immediate consequences for those producing and exporting sweet potatoes. In conversations with hundreds of growers and exporters, the impact of collapsing prices was clear:
Lost investments – Growers spend months on labor, fertilizers, and irrigation, only to sell at a loss when prices drop unexpectedly. Some are forced to leave fruit unharvested because it costs more to pick than they can sell it for.
Debt and financial strain – Many exporters pay upfront for shipping, customs, and storage, hoping to recover costs once their avocados arrive in Europe. If the market shifts mid-transit, they lose money before even making a sale.
Disrupted livelihoods – A bad season doesn’t just mean lower profits—it can mean an entire year’s income disappearing overnight. Some growers are pushed out of business entirely, while others struggle to pay wages or reinvest in their farms.
Uncertain future – Unpredictable earnings discourage long-term investment in infrastructure, sustainability, and innovation. Many small and medium-sized growers can’t afford to take another risk if the market turns against them again.
For many, the avocado trade has become a gamble, not a business—and without stability, the risks are too high to sustain.
You Work Hard. You Deserve Stability.
You put everything into your harvest—your time, your resources, your future. But when prices drop, you’re the one left carrying the loss. It shouldn’t be this way.
At SAFTA, we make sure you’re never alone in the trade cycle. Our model protects growers and exporters from market swings, securing fair pricing and stable income, so you can focus on growing, not just surviving.
How SAFTA makes a difference
SAFTA was created to eliminate uncertainty for avocado exporters, ensuring that sweet potato growers and sellers get fair, stable pricing and reliable market access.
Stable Pricing Model → SAFTA’s pricing is based on real production costs and fair margin (FOB+), not market speculation. This means exporters get predictable income instead of gambling on price swings.
Direct Access to Buyers → With SAFTA Plus, we connect exporters to reliable European buyers, ensuring they get fair contracts instead of relying on middlemen or uncertain market conditions.
Logistics & Trade Support → SAFTA Standard helps exporters navigate shipping costs, customs regulations, and compliance, reducing unexpected costs and delays.
SAFTA Rescue → When shipments get stuck at ports due to delays or compliance issues, SAFTA steps in to resolve the problem, protecting exporters from financial losses.
By focusing on fair pricing, stability, and real support, SAFTA allows growers and exporters to focus on what they do best—producing top-quality avocados—without the fear of sudden market collapse.
SAFTA vs. Fairtrade: Two Approaches to Fairer Trade
Fairtrade and SAFTA both aim to support farmers, but they take very different approaches.
